Who’s Doing What: Godfrey & Kahn adds 2 new attorneys; Michael Best names partners

Godfrey & Kahn adds two new attorneys

Two new attorneys have recently joined Godfrey & Kahn.

The firm announced that it had hired Patrick Cooney and Justin Webb.

Cooney is an associate in the Intellectual Property Practice Group in the firm’s Madison office. His practice centers on litigation, post-grant administrative proceedings, intellectual property licensing, patent portfolio design and management, and freedom-to-operate and invalidity studies.  He earned his law degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 2012.

Webb is an associate in the Corporate and Data Privacy & Cybersecurity Practice Groups in the firm’s Milwaukee office. He earned his law degree from Marquette University Law School in 2013

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Attorney joins O’Neil, Cannon, Hollman, DeJong & Laing

Milwaukee-based O’Neil, Cannon, Hollman, DeJong & Laing recently announced that Nicholas Chmurski has joined the firm.

Chmurski, who graduated from Marquette University in 2014, is a member of the Business Law and Real Estate & Construction Groups.

O’Neil, Cannon, Hollman, DeJong & Laing is a full-service legal practice that primarily specializes i8n providing business- law and civil-litigation services to closely-held businesses and their owners.

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Foley makes lateral hire

Foley & Lardner recently announced that Peter Tomasi has joined the firm’s Environmental Regulation practice as of counsel in the Milwaukee office.

Tomasi’s practice focuses on environmental regulatory compliance for businesses within the energy and health-care industries. Before joining Foley, Tomasi was a partner at Quarles & Brady LLP. He earned his law degree from Duke University School of Law in 2001.

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Four Michael Best attorneys make partner

Michael Best & Friedrich recently announced that it had promoted eight attorneys to partner, four of whom are based in its Wisconsin offices.

• Benjamin Evans (Madison) is a member of the Intellectual Property Practice Group whose practice center on preparing, filing, and prosecuting U.S. and international patent applications in the mechanical arts field.
• Laura Konkel (Madison) is a member of the firm’s Intellectual Property Practice Group and handles all aspects of trademark and copyright prosecution and enforcement.
• Justin Mertz (Milwaukee) is a member of the Corporate & Transactional Practice Group and provides counseling to businesses on bankruptcy, commercial loan negotiation, and real estate.
• David Trautschold (Milwaukee) practices in the Intellectual Property Practice Group and helps clients obtain patents and manage their intellectual property portfolios.

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Foley adds estate-planning attorney

Foley & Lardner recently announced that Joe Maier has joined the firm’s Estates & Trust practice as of counsel in the Madison office.

With more than 20 years of experience, Maier’s practice centers on estate planning, succession planning, deferred-compensation design, executive-compensation planning, income- tax planning and mergers and acquisitions.

Before joining Foley, Meier, who graduated from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 1995, was a shareholder at Milwaukee-based O’Neil, Cannon, Hollman, DeJong & Laing. He has also worked as director of advanced planning and assistant general counsel at Northwestern Mutual.

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Habush hires new associate to Madison office

Habush Habush & Rottier recently announced that it had made a new hire to its Madison office.

Corey Lorenz, who graduated from DePaul University College of Law in 2011, has joined its Madison office as an associate. Before joining the firm, she was an associate attorney representing injured plaintiffs in multiple multi-district litigation.

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Michael Best adds 2 attorneys to Milwaukee IP practice

Michael Best & Friedrich has added two attorneys to its intellectual property practice in its Milwaukee office.

Brenda Ambrosius provides legal advice on trademark prosecution and enforcement, copyright and licensing matters. Before joining Michael Best, Ambrosius was in-house trademark counsel for the world’s leading global manufacturer of home appliances and a global consumer-products company. Ambrosius earned her law degree from Valparaiso University Law School in 2012.

Li Zhu’s practice will center on helping clients protect, enforce, and defend their global brands through legal advice and litigation. Zhu previously worked as an associate in the Beijing office of a global law firm and as in-house counsel to a global industrial manufacturer in Beijing.

Zhu earned an LL.M. from Stanford Law School in 2016 and an LL.M. from the University of Groningen in 2004.

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Godfrey & Kahn adds eight new attorneys

Godfrey & Kahn recently hired the following eight associates:

• Brian Anhalt is an associate in the Corporate Practice Group in the Milwaukee office. He received his law degree from Michigan State University College of Law in 2016.
• Stevin George is an associate in the Environmental Practice Group in the Milwaukee office. He earned his law degree from the University of Michigan Law School in 2017.
• Dana Hall is an associate in the Corporate Practice Group in the Milwaukee office. She earned her law degree from Marquette University Law School in 2017.
• Pedro Hernandez is an associate in the Labor, Employment & Immigration Practice Group in the Madison office. He earned his law degree from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 2017.
• Madeline Schlederer is an associate in the Milwaukee office in the Intellectual Property Practice Group. She received her law degree from Indiana University Maurer School of Law in 2017.
• Alex Stein is an associate in the Appleton office in the Corporate Practice Group. He earned his law degree from Marquette University Law School in 2017.
• Brian Vogt is an associate in the Milwaukee office in the Corporate Practice Group. He earned his law degree from Marquette University Law School in 2017.
• Ed Wallace is an associate in the Milwaukee office in the Estate Planning Practice Group. He earned his law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 2017.

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Michael Best hires labor and employment expert

Michael Best & Friedrich recently announced that it had hired an employment-law expert.

Beth McCurdy was added as senior counsel to the firm’s Milwaukee Labor & Employment Practice Group. Her work will center on management-side employment law.

Before joining Michael Best, McCurdy worked at Petrie + Pettit in Milwaukee. She earned her law degree in 1999 from Marquette University Law School.

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6 Michael Best partners recognized in publication

Michael Best & Friedrich recently announced that six of its partners were recognized as “Local Litigation Stars” in the 2018 edition of Benchmark Litigation. Recognition is based on client interviews, peer interviews, and recent casework.

• Paul Benson
• Donald Best
• David Krutz (Construction)
• Jonathan Margolies (Intellectual Property)
• John Scheller (Intellectual Property)
• Daniel  Vaccaro (White Collar Crime)

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10 Michael Best attorneys named Lawyer of the Year

Michael Best & Friedrich recently announced that 10 of its lawyers in Wisconsin were named “Lawyers of the Year” in their areas of practice in the 2018 edition of The Best Lawyers in America. The are as follows:

• Donald Best, patent litigation, Madison
• Jordan Hemaidan, communications law, Madison
• Robert Gordon, tax litigation and controversy, Milwaukee
• Charles Jackson, banking and finance law, Milwaukee
• Gregory Lynch, corporate law, Madison
• Jonathan Margolies, patent litigation, Milwaukee
• José Olivieri, employment law, Milwaukee
• Todd Palmer, environmental law, Milwaukee
• Ann Ustad Smith, bankruptcy and creditor/debtor rights and insolvency and reorganization, Madison
• Teresa Welch, patent law, Madison.

The firm also announced that 77 other attorneys were listed in the publication.

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Michael Best Strategies expands

Michael Best Strategies recently announced that it is merging its Washington, D.C., office with Canfield & Associates.

Anne Canfield started Canfield & Associates in 1996. The firm provides strategic planning and policy advice. Michael Best Strategies has offices in six states and works with clients in a wide range of areas, including government relations, public-policy consulting, grassroots advocacy and public affairs.

Canfield will be joining D.C. veterans Denise Bode and Tom Schreibel in the Michael Best Strategies Washington Office.

Schreibel is a former chief of staff and committee professional staff member to U.S. Congressman F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr., of Wisconsin and has worked in Wisconsin on numerous congressional and local races, a Congressional redistricting effort and continues to serve as vice-chairman of the Wisconsin Republican Party.

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Milwaukee attorney to lead Michael Best expansion

Michael Best & Friedrich recently announced that it has expanded the responsibilities of the Milwaukee office managing partner, Danielle Bergner, to include overseeing and leading the firm’s move to its new office in the new BMO Harris Financial Center at Market Square in downtown Milwaukee.

Bergner will continue to serve as office managing partner and lead the firm’s real-estate-development practice, while also supervising its move in late 2019.

With this relocation, Michael Best will become the anchor tenant of a new 60,000-square-foot space being developed by Irgens Partners.

The firm has also named the Milwaukee partner José A. Oliveri to serve as co-managing partner of the office in order to assist in Bergner’s expanded responsibilities.

Additionally, Krutz said that Michael Best will begin exploring expansion options for its existing Waukesha office, which is in the Riverwood Office.

Bergner, a former Milwaukee deputy city attorney, is a real-estate attorney. She joined Michael Best in 2015.

Olivieri previously served as the chairperson of the firm’s Labor and Employment Practice Group and is the founder and co-chair of Michael Best’s immigration-law practice and chair of the firm’s Higher Education Industry Group.

Editor’s note: The original version of this article misreported where Corey Lorenz obtained her law degree and the year of her graduation. She graduated from DePaul University College of Law in 2011. We regret the error.